Mr Bannon, who has been slammed by Mr Trump for leaking details of his time at the White House, was a guest speaker at the event and was greeted with huge cheers.

While addressing Front National members, the former advisor to US President Donald Trump said: “Let them call you racists.”

“Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honour.”

Mr Bannon also told Front National members that “history is on our side”.

He added: “You’re part of a movement that is bigger than that in Italy, bigger than in Poland, bigger than in Hungary.

“You fight for your country and they call you racist. But the days when those kind of insults work is over.

“The establishment media are the dogs of the system. Every day, we become stronger and they become weaker.”

Speaking to journalists ahead of the speech, he also lavished praise on leader Marine Le Pen’s 28-year-old niece.

Marion Marechal-Le Pen is seen as the future of the party, despite currently taking a break from politics.

He said: “She is not simply a rising star on the right in France. She’s one of the most impressive people in the entire world.”

Mr Bannon met Ms Marechal-Le Pen, who temporarily withdrew from politics after her aunt’s presidential election defeat last May, at the CPAC conservative conference in Maryland last month, where he said she was “absolutely electrifying.”

Her US speech was widely commented on in French media as posing a challenge for her aunt.

Marine Le Pen was hoping that the party congress in Lille would help her reassert her authority, after her defeat to pro-Europe centrist Emmanuel Macron prompted criticism of her style and policies.

A new name is being unveiled at the conference this weekend with the aim of the party becoming relevant again.

Speaking today at the conference, Marine Le Pen said: “Our individual and collective commitments go towards a cause that is greater than us.

“It is for France that we fight, it is for France that we will win.

“Long live the Republic, Long live France!”

She also said: “It is because we are Europeans that we are opposed to the European Union.